firing and glazing: can be electric, gas, what is it? coal- or wood-fired. Bisque firing turns your It's using clay to make pots and other items - food pot into a hard, ceramic pot, after which you glaze and drink containers, flower pots, etc. There it and back it goes into the for the glaze firing. are various methods of making pots, then they Glaze is a silicon-based liquid or powder that is have to be dried and fired in a kiln. After firing, the applied to pottery to make it non-porous, but also clay becomes ceramic, which is hard, and doesn't for decoration. Glaze contains silica (glass), break down in contact with water, as unfired clay alumina (clay to make it stick to the side of the would. Patterns and colours can be introduced pot) and flux to lower the melting temperature of onto the pot by scratching, painting, printing or via the silica (from 1700°C, which is too high). Firing transfers. Pottery for use with food and drink has makes it set hard as a protective layer. to be glazed, or it will be porous and unhygenic. clays: are extremely fine-grained soils formed by what are the benefits? the chemical weathering of rocks. Primary clays, You can learn to make your own useful and or kaolins, are found at the site of their formation. beautiful items. It can be therapeutic, and you can Secondary clays were moved by wind, water or gain skills to start your own small business. If you ice, which reduces particle sizes and makes the don't want to make your own, you can buy clay smoother, and it picks up impurities that ceramic items from a local potter, if you have one. change its colour and lower its firing temperature. They will be more expensive, but barring Ceramics, such as , and accidents, will last a lifetime. You'll be supporting are classified according to the type of your local economy, rather than multinationals clays used and firing temperatures. importing cheap, sweat-shop mugs and plates history: it's one of the oldest technologies. from the other side of the world, with all the Ceramic figures have been found almost 30,000 pollution and carbon emissions that that entails. years old, and fragments of pots have been found The most environmentally-friendly way of making in Japan, dated around 14,000BCE. The potter's your own pottery is by using locally-dug clay, wheel is also an ancient invention - around 3- handbuilding or using a kickwheel and a wood- 3500BCE in the Indus Valley, China, Egypt and fired kiln - or you can go a step further and hand- Mesopotamia. No-one's sure who was first; but it build 'wild pottery' from hand-dug clay, fired on an wasn't invented in the Americas at all. open fire, and glazed with milk. techniques: hand-building is easier than using a wheel. The main methods are coiling, pinch pots, what can I do? slab pots, rolling and wrapping or press-moulding. Pottery isn't something you can learn from books. Making a pot on a potter's wheel is called You have to have a go - so maybe the first thing 'throwing'. This method needs a lot of practice. to do is attend a course. You can dig up some

From clay to mug: cutting and weighing clay; throwing; adding a handle; bisque firing; decorating; glazing; glaze firing; finished mug. pottery clay and experiment - see if you can make pots, and if it fires at an appropriate temperature. If you can't find local clay, you can buy everything you need from potters' suppliers. Prepare your clay, by wedging and kneading to get rid of air bubbles. Then have a go at the different techniques. hand building: • coiling - you can make different shapes using long, rolled pieces of clay and building up from the bottom. Do the bottom part on day one, build a little higher on day two etc. • pinch pots - made from a single ball of clay, by pinching the sides up • slab pots - with square/rectangular base / sides • press-moulding - clay is rolled flat and pressed 'Wild' pottery made from locally-dug clay into (or around) a mould to make shallow dishes and fired on an open fire. • just rolling out the clay and wrapping it round ready-made shapes or tubes to form , for leaving them on a shelf for a week. Kilns are example; can make square shapes as well expensive, but there are places you can hire kiln Techniques can also be combined on single items. time to fire your pieces - search online or your You can press designs into the clay when it's wet, local classifieds. Earthenware is usually fired at and scratch patterns when it's 'leather hard' - the 1000-1200°C, stoneware 1100-1300°C and tidying-up stage. Then leave to dry before firing. porcelain 1200-1400°C. You don't know what throwing: get a potter's wheel, from potters' you're going to find when you open the kiln. suppliers, or second-hand. Choose a good-quality Hopefully everything will have gone well, but your wheel and it will last a lifetime. Actually, a pot may have cracked, or even blown up if there kickwheel will last a lifetime, and is more was air in the clay. You can also fire 'wild pottery' environmentally-friendly than an electric wheel, as on an open fire or in a pit (see 'benefits', above). it's spun by leg-power rather than electricity. You There is an enormous amount of information that can also build your own wheel by adapting almost is beyond the scope of this factsheet - such as: anything that spins - like a bike wheel. You'll find various types of glazes, including shiny, matt, dry lots of ideas on YouTube. 1lb (0.5kg) of clay will and raku; salt or sugar firing - thrown into the kiln give you a mug or a small bowl - you'll know how at peak temperature to give an 'orange peel' much clay to use with practice. Form the clay into effect; oxidation (allowing air in) and reduction a ball and do a bit of 'coning and balling' - (keeping air out) glaze firing, to produce different squeezing up and pushing down to prepare the colours and effects; raku firing, at lower clay for throwing. Centre the clay on the wheel by temperatures for a lustred appearance. But these turning it a few times, then stick your thumb in to and more can all be learnt after you've mastered open up a hole, before turning the wheel and the basics. bringing up the clay at the sides with your hands (the most difficult part for beginners). Master small resources pieces before trying bigger items. Put your pot • see lowimpact.org/pottery for more information, aside, and when it's 'leather hard', put it back on courses and books, including: the wheel to trim off excess clay from the bottom • Steve Mattison, the Complete Potter and to tidy up the outside. Then make your handle • Alex McErlain, the Art of Throwing if necessary - score it where it joins the pot/mug • Susan Bruce, the Art of Handbuilt Ceramics and fix using (watered-down clay). • Frederick Olsen, the Kiln Book drying, firing and glazing: your pot can crack if it • Craft Potters Association, cpaceramics.co.uk, dries unevenly, which may happen if it's not the equipment suppliers and regional associations same thickness throughout. Items have to be • Potfest, potfest.co.uk, potters' festival / markets bone-dry before firing, which usually means • jhpottery.com - mini-tutorial

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